Denton pay raises questioned

I could not believe my eyes when I read the Denton Township Board approved raises for Clerk Carol Asher and Treasurer Carolyn Pietchek. There’s more, Assessor Sarah Dugan received a $7,600 raise from $41,000 to $49,000. Her reward for keeping assessments high and taking money out of our pockets. Who’s paying for these raises? You and I!

My praise to Supervisor Craig Cotterman and Trustee Gary Williams for refusing their raises. However the Denton Township Board wouldn’t let Cotterman refuse and said it went with the job not the man. It sounds like an arrogant board to me.

Governor Snyder keeps telling local governments to consolidate services and jobs to save money and reduce the size of government like he is doing in state government.

Consolidating services means consolidating jobs. In Roscommon Township, Supervisor Diane Randall also is the assessor saving a considerable amount of money, salary and benefits. Denton Township needs to do likewise but doesn’t.

The EMS received 5% pay raises and possibly they deserve their raises. But you and I are going to pay for their rate increases in addition to the increase in hospital and medical costs. For some this will drive them into poverty. Rising medical costs and insurance rates are a problem for all of us and not only EMS costs.

The Denton Township Board would rather ignore the record numbers of foreclosures and the tragedy of lost homes as well as the high unemployment in our county. Forty-some percent of our school children receive free breakfasts and lunches due to their poverty. But how about their parents, many don’t eat. Roscommon County is second to the worse in poverty among all the counties in our state. Many people don’t realize what a poor county we live in yet we have politicians who don’t care. They are self-serving.

State workers all took 10% pay cuts. Denton Township should also have taken a 10% pay cut rather than their generous pay raises.

We all need to get behind this drive to consolidate our four townships. Do we need all this government spending our tax dollars? Of course not! We the people need to control our government and not allow a few self-serving politicians to keep spending our money with pay raises when so many are hurting in this recession.